What is the UK Statutory Residence Test?

It is the test in Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45, that decides whether you are UK resident for a tax year (6 April to 5 April). It runs in a fixed order: the automatic overseas tests first, then the automatic UK tests, then the sufficient ties test. The first part that gives an answer decides.

How many days can I spend in the UK without becoming resident?

It depends on your ties and on whether you were UK resident in any of the previous three tax years. With no prior residence you are automatically non-resident under 46 days; if you were resident recently the line is under 16 days. Above that, the sufficient ties table sets how many ties make you resident at each day count. 183 days or more is always resident.

What is the midnight rule?

A day counts as a day spent in the UK if you are in the UK at the end of the day, at midnight. Arriving in the morning and leaving the same evening is not a UK day, unless the deeming rule applies.

What is the deeming rule?

If you were UK resident in one or more of the previous three tax years, have at least 3 UK ties, and were in the UK on more than 30 days without being here at midnight, then after the first 30 of those days every further one counts as a UK day.

What are the UK ties?

Family (a UK-resident spouse, partner or child under 18), accommodation (a UK place to live available for 91 days in a row that you use at least one night, or 16 nights at a close relative's), work (more than 3 hours a day on at least 40 days), the 90-day tie (more than 90 UK days in either of the two previous tax years) and, for leavers only, the country tie.

Does 183 days automatically make me UK resident?

Yes, under the first automatic UK test, as long as no automatic overseas test applied first. The overseas tests are checked before the UK tests, so the order matters.

What is split-year treatment?

Relief that splits a tax year into a UK part and an overseas part when you arrive or leave partway through, in eight defined cases. This calculator reports the whole-year position and does not model split years.

Can exceptional circumstances reduce my day count?

Yes. Days you spent in the UK only because of exceptional circumstances beyond your control, such as a sudden serious illness, can be ignored, up to a maximum of 60 days in a tax year. Whether a situation qualifies is fact-specific.

What is the best UK tax residency app?

Look for one that counts UK midnights automatically rather than relying on you to log trips. iReside counts your UK days from your iPhone's location and keeps your Statutory Residence Test day count live through the tax year, with alerts before you reach a day limit. You still weigh your ties yourself (this calculator does that), and it does not give tax advice.

UK Statutory Residence Test Calculator

Step 1: the automatic overseas tests

Meet any one of these and you are not UK resident for the year. Nothing else is checked. HMRC's guidance note RDR3 sets them out:

You'll be non-UK resident for the tax year if you were resident in the UK for one or more of the 3 tax years before the current tax year, and you spend fewer than 16 days in the UK

Source: HMRC, RDR3 guidance note

First test: UK resident in one or more of the previous 3 tax years, and fewer than 16 days in the UK.
Second test: not UK resident in any of the previous 3 tax years, and fewer than 46 days in the UK.
Third test: working full time overseas, with fewer than 91 days in the UK and fewer than 31 days working more than 3 hours in the UK.

Step 2: the automatic UK tests

If no overseas test applies, meeting any one of these makes you UK resident:

First test: you spend 183 days or more in the UK in the tax year.
Second test: you have a UK home for at least 91 consecutive days, at least 30 of them in the tax year, you are present there on at least 30 days, and you have no overseas home or spend fewer than 30 days at it.
Third test: you work full time in the UK for 365 days with more than 75% of your working days in the UK.

Step 3: the sufficient ties test

If neither set of automatic tests decides, count your UK ties and compare them with your UK days. Leavers (UK resident in one or more of the previous 3 tax years) need fewer ties at the same day count than arrivers:

Days in the UK	Leaver: ties that make you resident	Arriver: ties that make you resident
Fewer than 16	Always non-resident	Always non-resident
16 to 45	4 or more	Always non-resident
46 to 90	3 or more	All 4
91 to 120	2 or more	3 or more
121 to 182	1 or more	2 or more
183 or more	Resident (automatic UK test)	Resident (automatic UK test)

The ties, as HMRC defines them:

Family tie: your spouse, civil partner or partner, or a child under 18, is UK resident.
Accommodation tie:a place to live in the UK available for a continuous 91 days or more in the tax year, where you spend at least one night (16 nights if it is a close relative's home).
Work tie: more than 3 hours of work a day in the UK on at least 40 days.
90-day tie: more than 90 days in the UK in either or both of the two previous tax years.
Country tie (leavers only): the UK is the country where you were present at midnight on the greatest number of days in the tax year.

How days are counted: the midnight rule

An individual is considered to have spent a day in the UK if they are here at the end of the day (midnight).

Source: HMRC manual RFIG20710

Three things change that basic rule:

Transit days. If you arrive as a passenger on a through journey between two countries outside the UK, leave the next day, and do nothing substantially unrelated to the journey in between, the midnight does not count (RFIG20730).
The deeming rule. If you were UK resident in one or more of the previous 3 tax years, have at least 3 UK ties, and spent more than 30 days in the UK without being here at midnight, every such day after the first 30 counts as a UK day (RFIG20720).
Exceptional circumstances. Up to 60 days a tax year spent in the UK only because of circumstances beyond your control can be ignored (RFIG22220).

Rule	What counts as a day
UK Statutory Residence Test	A day counts if you are in the UK at midnight, subject to the transit exception and the deeming rule. (HMRC, RFIG20710)
US Substantial Presence Test	Any part of a day in the US counts as a full day. (IRS, Substantial Presence Test)
US state 183-day rules (most states)	Varies by state. New York counts any part of a day; Pennsylvania counts a day as outside the state only if it is a full day, midnight to midnight; Ohio counts contact periods; many states publish no partial-day rule. (Each state's statute (see the state guide))
FEIE physical presence test	Only full 24-hour days abroad, midnight to midnight, count. (IRS, Physical Presence Test)
Schengen 90/180	The day you enter and the day you leave both count as days of stay. (Schengen Borders Code, Art. 6(1) and 6(2))

Worked examples

Situation	Result
Leaver, 100 UK days, UK-resident spouse and a UK flat used during visits (2 ties)	Resident: 91 to 120 days needs 2 ties for a leaver.
Same facts, but never UK resident before (arriver)	Not resident: an arriver needs 3 ties at 91 to 120 days.
Leaver, 14 UK days	Not resident under the first automatic overseas test, whatever the ties.
Flies into Heathrow at 9am and out at 8pm the same day	Not a UK day under the midnight rule (unless the deeming rule applies).

UK residency guides and related tools

Frequently asked questions

What is the UK Statutory Residence Test?: It is the test in Finance Act 2013, Schedule 45, that decides whether you are UK resident for a tax year (6 April to 5 April). It runs in a fixed order: the automatic overseas tests first, then the automatic UK tests, then the sufficient ties test. The first part that gives an answer decides.
How many days can I spend in the UK without becoming resident?: It depends on your ties and on whether you were UK resident in any of the previous three tax years. With no prior residence you are automatically non-resident under 46 days; if you were resident recently the line is under 16 days. Above that, the sufficient ties table sets how many ties make you resident at each day count. 183 days or more is always resident.
What is the midnight rule?: A day counts as a day spent in the UK if you are in the UK at the end of the day, at midnight. Arriving in the morning and leaving the same evening is not a UK day, unless the deeming rule applies.
What is the deeming rule?: If you were UK resident in one or more of the previous three tax years, have at least 3 UK ties, and were in the UK on more than 30 days without being here at midnight, then after the first 30 of those days every further one counts as a UK day.
What are the UK ties?: Family (a UK-resident spouse, partner or child under 18), accommodation (a UK place to live available for 91 days in a row that you use at least one night, or 16 nights at a close relative's), work (more than 3 hours a day on at least 40 days), the 90-day tie (more than 90 UK days in either of the two previous tax years) and, for leavers only, the country tie.
Does 183 days automatically make me UK resident?: Yes, under the first automatic UK test, as long as no automatic overseas test applied first. The overseas tests are checked before the UK tests, so the order matters.
What is split-year treatment?: Relief that splits a tax year into a UK part and an overseas part when you arrive or leave partway through, in eight defined cases. This calculator reports the whole-year position and does not model split years.
Can exceptional circumstances reduce my day count?: Yes. Days you spent in the UK only because of exceptional circumstances beyond your control, such as a sudden serious illness, can be ignored, up to a maximum of 60 days in a tax year. Whether a situation qualifies is fact-specific.
What is the best UK tax residency app?: Look for one that counts UK midnights automatically rather than relying on you to log trips. iReside counts your UK days from your iPhone's location and keeps your Statutory Residence Test day count live through the tax year, with alerts before you reach a day limit. You still weigh your ties yourself (this calculator does that), and it does not give tax advice.